Many children in Fairfax County schools near our Northern Virginia headquarters are eligible for free and reduced lunch. School administrators worry these children might go hungry over the weekend, so on Friday, October 12, CRC CARES members volunteered with an organization focused on addressing that issue. Mid-Atlantic employees partnered with Food For Others to support their P3 program – assembling “Power Packs” of non-perishable foods for the school children to take home over the weekend.

Through our construction company’s #CBGGives initiative, employees from various offices spent the day sorting and assembling more than 300 Power Packs for three local schools.

Food and fuel are important for learning. The Power Packs help students stay healthy and arrive at school ready to learn.

With the help from other community entities, Food for Others is positioned to distribute over 70,000 packs in 2018/2019 to 28 Fairfax County elementary schools. For more information about the program and Food for Others, please visit their website.

On Thursday, July 12, CRC CARES members volunteered at the Capital Area Food Bank in Washington, DC. Team members sorted and packaged 672 boxes of supplemental groceries for senior citizens in need in the Washington metropolitan area; CRC CARES also donated $1,000 to the cause, which will feed an additional 200 families.

CRC CARES arranged items like corn cereal, milk, apple juice, canned tomatoes, applesauce, and peas into the boxes assembly-line style. The boxes were then sent to a separate part of the distribution center and packaged with perishable food like fruit and cheese before they were sent off to their respective recipients.

The supplemental groceries like the ones CRC CARES packed will serve over 10,000 senior citizens through the Grocery Plus and Senior Brown Bag programs. The Capital Area Food Bank also has similar programs for the 2,500 children in-need called the Weekend Bag program; it helps ensure they will not be hungry over the weekend when school meals are not available.

The Capital Area Food Bank, which is a member of Feeding America, is the largest organization in the Washington metro area working to solve hunger. They have partnered with 444 community organizations within DC, Maryland, and Virginia to help combat hunger and its related problems like chronic undernutrition, heart disease, and obesity. With the efforts of the Capital Area Food Bank, its 444 partners, and the efforts of its volunteers, 540,000 people in the DC-area gain access to good, healthy food each year.

This May, CRC Arlington office employees spent a day outside volunteering with City Blossoms, a Washington D.C. nonprofit committed to cultivating healthy lifestyles through providing green spaces for city youth and community members.

Around 20 employees spent the day weeding, planting, and landscaping to make an outdoor space optimal for City Blossoms to achieve their goals and so community members can enjoy the outdoor space. Members worked at the Marion Street Intergenerational Garden site, where healthy produce is harvested by and for local community members.

Since 2009, City Blossoms has made a difference across the District though its commitment to community-engaging programming and after-school opportunities. CRC volunteers look forward to giving back with this non-profit year after year.

Our members believe in the importance of functional outdoor space and experiences that come from such places, and how smart city planning can shape and transform lives. Supporting volunteers enjoyed the day in the spring sun and giving back to the local community.